Amazing Grace

Updated on February 15, 2010

Never Ever (modified editon)

We left that morning with two loafs of sliced bread, two litres of
water and a liter of juice, we hoped on catching large scales of fishes
for a sizable profit. I have the habit of allowing my 9yrs old son in
our company, after all, we belong to a family of fishermen, i began
fishing at the age of 7yrs with Dad and sometimes grand pa who
particularly taught me how to make the best fishing net.

My
wife didn’t want Clinton to come with me, she wanted him to help her in
some domestic work but my little boy find pleasure in fishing than in
any other thing. Anyway i made her allow him to join me. We picked up
Tim my younger brother and Edward our cousin at the junction and the
four of us headed down south to the river. It was 6.45am Saturday
morning.

We arrived at the river on time, it was calm and
breezy so we quickly fixed my Pirogue and entered the Gulf but after
couple of hours sailing and what suppose to be our best fishing day, we
experienced engine failure and to make it worst, rain began pouring on
us, it was so heavy and there was no help nearby, no sight of any
passing boat, i hurdled Clinton under the tiny piece of tarpaulin we
had on board.All this water around us and no help , no way to
communicate with anyone because our cell phone batteries were dead
though i believed that help will come our way, it was a busy water so
we just kept floating. The time now 4pm. Our bread and water had gone,
i knew that everybody was worried, Tim just wedded his wife and she is
eight months pregnant.

I realized the danger facing us when i
looked at my wrist watch and to my greatest shock, the time was 11:
27pm, does day pass this fast i asked myself? How can we pass through
the night? A million thoughts filled my head instantly then i began to
pray. I prayed all the prayers i knew in 10minutes and even spoke in
tongues so that God will hear me speedily and send us help. I then
encouraged everyone to join me in chorus so we all began to sing to God.

The
night fell on us like magic and honestly, i am still wondering as you
are reading, how we passed through the night because when i took my
touch, checked my wrist watch and the time was 5;45am. I became
confused.I looked at the sky above and watched Clinton dry his tears, i
wanted to embrace him, i knew that he was hungry and worried, i saw his
innocent face and as his eyes caught mine, he smiled and simply nod at
me then i stretched my hand and held him by the shoulder. He was
shivering having been exposed to the cold of the night.

Tim then broke the silence...“Maybe we will all die here” he said“No Tim” Edward respondedThen Clinton looked at me and simply said.“Daddy, i love you”

I nodded my head in response and gave him a smile but my heart was
broken, i had no words to express my love for him, how can i tell him
that i love him too. I can’t even save him from the danger that is
facing us so what is the need to love him if i can’t save him? There
was no food and nothing to hold on with though i managed to catch some
fish and we roasted them in the basin we had, we tore the cardboard we
had and light them with matches to make fire.

I looked at my wrist watch once again and it was exactly 2pm then i bowed down my head and silently spoke to God in my heart.

“Father
save us, send us help o Lord. I refuse to accept that we will die here,
no Lord! No! Help us father, save us for the sake of Clinton and
Julie’s unborn, Tim is worried but he counts on you as much as i do,
Lord help us in Jesus name. Amen.”

It seems that God himself was
not even paying attention to us, perhaps he is sleeping because i
watched my son fall into the river.

I tried to grab him by his hands but it was too late, i could not jump
into the river to save my son because i was too weak. It was 9:47pm and
i watched Clinton drown. None of us was able to utter a word because
from every indication, we will die one after the other.

The only
thing that did not occurred to me was to jump into the sea and end this
tragedy/fear that have engulfed me as we float and the water kept
drifting us, none of us could say exactly where we were at that point
in time. I guess by now we were hallucinating, i began to hear voices
and different kinds of unpleasant sounds. The Night came and once more
go without any sign of help.

As we continued floating and
waiting for our deaths to, i noticed a fire work then suddenly a touch
light pointed to our direction, i heard a voice shouting.

“There, they are, look at them”

It
was the Coast guard; they rescued us and transferred us onto their
boat. The time was 4:15am. We were transported to the Central Medical
Complex for treatment and after four hours of medical observation and
treatment, we were all certified to be in good shape. I was still
battered because of my son whom i know must have been eaten by fishes
or crocodiles.

Monday morning. 9;25am, just as i walked out of
the ward and headed outside the hospital, i saw my wife standing by the
car park ,beside her was someone who looked like Clinton, i robbed my
eyes a million times as i approached her to make sure that i was not
dreaming or hallucinating then the little boy ran towards me and was
shouting.

Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!

It was my son, it was
Clinton, i hugged him, lifted him up, with tears all over me and a
little bit of confusion. I heard him say “Daddy i love you.”

“I love you too son” i replied.

Tim
and Edward was standing dumb folded as i carried my son whom we all saw
fell into the river and drown, a little boy we were so weak to help.

“What happened”? I managed to ask him.

Let me allow Clinton to tell you guys the rest of the story.

I
don’t know how it happened but i realized that i slipped off the Pirogue, i
heard your voices and i heard Dad shouting my name then i noticed that i was
inside the river, deep down the belly of the river, i saw so many beautiful
fishes and they were smiling at me, then i felt a hand grab me.

It
carried me onto his back, it was like a man, he had long hair, as he swam
carrying me, many big fishes swam next to us.

All of a sudden, i saw myself on the shore, i realized that i was standing then
i was able to look at the man who was walking back into the sea, he was
gladdened on a white cloth, i found my voice and shouted at him. I said “Thank
you but who are you”

He turned to me, his face was as bright as the sky,then he said to me;

“Son, i am the lord your God. I am Jesus Christ”

That was all i could remember as i watched him swim away then i saw the coast
guard boat approaching from the opposite direction, i waved at them and told
them about you and Uncle Tim. One of them took me to the station and mum later
came and picked me up. This is all i could remember Dad.

Folk, you have heard Clinton, all i can chip into our story is this. Our God is
able, he is alive and he doesn’t sleep, not for a second. He knows all our
plights and sees all the dangers we face and in any situation you are, he must
surely come to your rescue his own way, so no matter what you are passing
through, NEVER EVER lose hope for he will send his Son Jesus Christ to rescue
you.

Tim has something to say because he has been silent all this while.

“Amazing grace how sweet thou sound, you rescued a wretch like me, i was lost
but now am found”.